Wire clamp and stretcher



W. H. KEEL.

WIRE CLAMP AND STRETCHER.

APPLlCATlON FILED AUG.I7. 1912.

1 ,334,865. V Patented Mar. 23, 1920.

UNTTED STATES PATENT Ol l TCE,

WILLIAM H. KEEL, 01d GRANT, ALABAIVIA.

WIRE CLAMP AND, STRETGI'IER.

Application filed August 1?, 1917.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM H. KEEL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Grant, in the county of Marshall and State of Alabama, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Wire Clamps and Stretchers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in a wire clamp and stretcher and has for one of its objects the provision of a device of this character, which can be readily applied to wires or the like for the purpose of stretching them prior to being secured to fence posts or the like.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a pair of clamping bars adapted to grip wires and connected to a stretching lever, whereby upon operating the stretching lever, the wires will be stretched.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a novel means of connecting the clamping bars to the stretching lever so that they may be readily and conveniently applied to wires.

A still further object of this invention is the provision of a Wire clamp and stretcher of the above stated character, which shall be simple, durable and ellicient, and which may he manufactured and sold at a compara tively low cost.

With these and other objects in View as will become more apparent as the description proceeds, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

For a complete understanding of my in vention, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a wire clamp constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan View of the same illustrating the means of connecting the clamping bars or members together.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the numeral 1 indicates a pair of co-acting clamp- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 23, 1920.

Serial No. 186,722.

ing bars, having their inner faces curved transversely as shown at 2. Pairs of bars a are secured to the outer flattened faces of the members 1 and have formed at each end thereof, eyes 5 and 6. The bars d are slidably arranged in staples 4 carried by the outer sides of the clamping members 1. One pair of the bars 4. have connected to their eyes 5, hooks 6, which engage the eyes 5 of the other pair of bars i, whereby the clamping members 1 are connected together and the wires 3 disposed therebetween. The upper and lower eyes 6' of the pairs of bars 4: are connected by relatively short chains 7. The chains 7 are connected intermediate their ends by a chain 8, which has connected thereto intermediate its ends, a hook 9. The hook 9 is secured to an operating lever 10 by a staple 11. The operating lever 10 has swivelly connected thereto a pair of hooks 12 through the medium of links 12, which hooks are connected to the ends of an anchoring chain 13 that is adapted to pass about a post or permanent object 14 as clearly shown in Fig. 1, whereby upon swinging the operating lever 10 in one direction, the wires 3 will be caused to move in the direction of the post or anchoring member 14 so as to stretch them prior to securing them to a fence post or the like.

In the use of my improved wire clamp, the wire is arranged between the co-acting membore 1, and for the purpose of varying the tension to be exerted upon the wires, the bars 4- may be properly positioned on the bars 1. It will be apparent that up on exerting an in creased pull upon the chain 8, the forward ends of the bars l: will seek to come closer together and thus draw the clamping members tighter.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that minor changes in construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed is:

A wire stretcher including a pair of coacting clamping bars, staples carried by the outer sides of the bars, pairs of rods arranged on the outer sides of said clamping bars and slidahly extended through said staples, links connecting the forward ends of the rodsof each pair, chains connecting the rods of each pair, a relatively long chain connecting the first named chains, and op erating means connected to said relatively long chain, the opposed sides of said ooacting clamping members being curved transversely for presenting a rounded surface to the wire whereby the wire is uniformly and rigidly gripped.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM H. KEEL. Witnesses:

WILLIAM D. HOLLY, J. EARLY NIX. 

